The Crown's Seduction
Chapter 256: The Evidence

Chapter 256: The Evidence

Nikolai brought Haman back to the Capital for a public trial. While he would’ve wanted to just kill the traitor and be done with it, he couldn’t exactly just do that to someone of Haman’s unfortunate stature. No, he had to bring him back for a fair trial for everyone to see and let them be the judge for the accused actions. Not that he cared this time, at least. As far as he was concerned, Haman had already forfeited his life the moment he caught wind of his wrong-doings.

Arriving at the palace, Nikolai dragged Haman by the collar himself as he led the way. Behind them were some of his men just to make sure that nothing would go wrong. Meanwhile, by his side was his Mineah and her current companions who would serve as witnesses to the trial. It was them that would make Haman’s fate all but impossible to escape for the man, and there was nothing he could say that would even make his case somewhat appealable.

"Y-Your Majesty?" one of the many high officers littering the palace asked just as they reached the courtroom hall. "What is the meaning of this!? Why is Lord Haman-"

"Lord Haman is going to stand trial," Nikolai pointedly replied, uncaring of how Haman was currently squirming in his grip. "This is mostly a formality, seeing as we have all the evidence we need to execute him should need to be."

Before the official could even reply, Nikolai went ahead and pushed the courtroom doors open. He stood by as he let the people around him enter first, making sure that all of them would see Haman’s sorry state before he himself entered. There was no mercy to be had here. He wanted all of those present to understand that what was going to happen was nothing more than a quick trial so that they could all be done with it and finally get on with their lives.

"Announcing the arrival of King Nikolai!"

Entering the hall, he did nothing more than scoff as he dragged Haman’s struggling body to the center of the room. Looking around, his clan was present in the proceedings as he expected. There were also a few representatives from the Rossi and the Wagner Clans, which were understandable seeing as members of their families were recently kidnapped alongside his wife in Haman’s botched attempt at having Mineah all to himself...

And just like that, Nikolai felt his blood threatening to boil just from the thought of the man somehow succeeding. While it didn’t happen, the fact that it even became a possibility just made him want to rip the man to shreds from where he stood.

"I stand here before you all to bring the accused, Haman of the Rossi Clan, to court," Nikolai coldly announced as he threw Haman’s body down on the ground. "While I know that justice needs to go through the appropriate channels, I still highly implore everyone present here to keep a close eye on the proceedings. I want you all to know what this heinous man did to get to this place, and I don’t care how it would happen. I want this case over by the end of the day so that we can finally get on with our lives."

With his piece said, Nikolai scoffed as he stood by the sidelines, not even bothering to go to his designated spot beside Mineah as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was going to relish Haman’s slow descent into death and madness, and there was nothing the man could do to stop it. If need be, he was going to act as the prosecution, presenting any and all evidence the people around him would ever need just for them to see that what was happening was truly just.

Understandably, his cold declaration brought out protests from the high officials present.

"What?! Where’s the basis for this?!"

"Did a proper investigation even happen!? Why is this so sudden?!"

"This is political persecution! What did Lord Haman even do?!"

Nikolai shook his head as he heard his people’s cries. If only they knew what this man had done to deserve this kind of treatment from him...

Letting out a sigh, he gave the presiding judge a loaded look. He was all but asking to be the one to present the case, to which the judge simply nodded as he let the king do what he had asked.

"Today, Haman stands here in this courtroom hall accused of the heinous crimes of trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping, sabotage, and treason," Nikolai coldly declared, his booming voice lulling the court into silence as he stated his piece. "There is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support all of these counts, and if that isn’t enough, then we have witnesses wholly willing to support these claims."

"What?! That’s outrageous!" yet another official scoffed. "Where’s the proof of it, Your Majesty?!"

Frowning, Nikolai mentally contacted Abel, the man quickly catching his drift as he promptly entered the courtroom floor.

"If I may," Abel smoothly introduced himself as he took his spot on the courtroom floor. "We have been investigating claims regarding Haman’s illegal activities for months now. It was only in the recent weeks that we began actively moving against him, and it’s only more recently that we actually managed to catch him in the act of kidnapping not only Her Majesty, Queen Mineah but also several other important ladies from other significant clans."

Audible gasps echoed across the courtroom as all were silenced by the grave accusations. Eva of the Rossi Clan especially looked scandalized at the statements made. Haman was her son, after all, and it was her clan’s power on the line even if one of the victims was one of their own.

"T-That’s nonsense!" Eva scoffed. "How can we know those aren’t all fabricated against my son?"

"I assure you that these are all authentic and vetted by numerous witnesses," Abel shrugged as he replied. "Believe what you will, but the evidence speaks for themselves."

From there, Abel went ahead and threw out file after file of receipts and witness testimonies regarding Haman’s illegal activities. If that wasn’t enough, he even began showing some of the victims that Fritz and Taro rescued from the many trafficking dens that Haman ran within the capital.

All in all, anyone with a brain knew that the case was all but shut. Still, it would seem that Eva didn’t know when to give up.

"Is... Is that all?" she anxiously asked.